Haunted by the Past
by scifislasher
Summary: [Boukenger] Souta's legacy as a spy comes back to haunt him. Slash for SoutaMasumi.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: GoGo Sentai Boukenger does not belong to me.

Haunted by the Past

Masumi blinked his eyes open and found it was still dark outside. Fumbling for his clock, he frowned when he realised it was still the early hours of the morning. What had woken him? He got his answer a moment later at the sudden movement at his side, accompanied by a choked off cry. Looking over at the man who was spending more and more time in his bed of late, Masumi was disturbed by the distressed expression on Souta's face and he leant across to swipe at the nearest arm.

"Souta, wake up. Just because you're having a nightmare doesn't mean you should wake up everyone else."

Nothing. Not even the jibe had any effect. He shook Souta's arm in an attempt to wake him up. "Souta, wake up." When that resulted in failure as well, Masumi bit his lip then shook a bit harder. A split second later he was flat on his back with an arm across his throat, cold eyes staring down at him. His attempts to dislodge Souta failed, one after the other, and his vision was beginning to blur as his throat burned, his breaths coming in strangled gasps. Then, suddenly, the arm was gone and he could move again. He sat up slowly, his breathing rate coming back to normal, and that was when he saw Souta sitting against the wall, arms wrapped round his knees, face buried in his lap, shoulders shaking.

Hesitating only a moment, he got out of bed and went to kneel down in front of his… whatever Souta was. "Souta, are you alright?" He instantly berated himself the moment he said it, of course he wasn't alright. He wouldn't be curled up in a ball of misery if he was alright. When he didn't get any response, yet again, he gently rested a hand on one of the shaking shoulders in attempt to… do something, soothe maybe? he wasn't sure. His stomach tightened as Souta flinched under the light touch - this was definitely not good. "Hey, look at me."

The light brown head remained stubbornly between the owner's knees and Masumi scowled to himself. He'd forgotten how stubborn Souta could be behind the sunny exterior. Well, he was stubborn too, and he'd be damned if he'd let Souta win this battle of wills. Taking his hand off the Up High Adventurer's shoulder, he manoeuvred his fingers under the other man's chin and inexorably forced his head up. "I said, look at me."

The moment he set eyes on Souta's face, he wished he hadn't pushed the point. The eyes that had been so cold a few minutes ago were now bright with unshed tears and the expression was one of self-loathing, a self-disgust that was so strong it hurt to look at. He'd never seen that look on Souta's face before and he never wanted to see it again, it was so at odds with the other man's perpetually cheerful smile.

While Takoaka Eiji had easily replaced Souta as the Most Annoying Person Ever, and while there were times he thought he'd scream with frustration if Akashi did that finger snapping "Attack" thing one more time, the constant smile Souta wore always seemed calculated to send his blood pressure through the roof, apart from the times when said smile was seductive and calculated to send his blood pressure through the roof for _entirely_ different and much more pleasurable reasons. Right now though, he'd give anything to see that irritating smile instead of this self-hate.

"Hey, it's okay."

"I almost killed you." Souta's voice was tight and rough and nothing like his usual confident tones.

"But you didn't. Bad dream?"

Slow nod. "Yes, but--"

"There you go then. I'm guessing you thought you were still dreaming and reacted accordingly. Any of us would have done the same." It might even be true. They all had their nightmares, even Natsuki, although he doubted she would ever wake suddenly and homicidally. The others… maybe. Even himself.

"But--"

"But nothing. It was a bad dream and it's over now. Come back to bed."

"But--"

"Why do you never listen? Come back to bed. We can deal with this in the morning if you really want to." Not. He had no intention of continuing this conversation in the morning, not unless it was absolutely necessary. The sooner Souta returned to normal the happier he'd be.

He wasn't sure how this thing they had had started, how or when it had somehow become more than simply fucking each other senseless, if had ever only been about fucking each other senseless in the first place, but whatever it was, it was important to him and he wasn't going to lose it, not for any reason. It had started out simply enough, when suddenly all he could think about was Souta's ass in those trousers; the way his mouth went dry at the way the Up High Adventurer moved, his grace and agility obvious to anyone with eyes; when it was all he could do _not_ to reach out and touch, but then it had started to get complicated. Even now it was surprising to him that Souta, womaniser extraordinaire, had made the first move, a move which had eventually led to them ending up in bed together, a circumstance that had continued to happen so often it had become semi-official, even if they never actually spoke about it.

Gently he coaxed Souta back to the bed, clamping down on the instinct to make some smart-ass comment or just drag the other man across the room. Either of those routes would make Souta shut down again and that was simply not an option. When they were both back in bed he hesitated before wrapping an arm round the slim waist next to him and burying his face in Souta's shoulder, deliberately relaxing his body. He figured the former spy would know he wasn't asleep, even if he pretended to be, but slowly the body next to his relaxed slightly, going from being as tightly strung as taut wire to something that would maybe resemble relaxed in an alternate dimension or something.

For his own part, Masumi couldn't sleep, his mind going round in circles. While he knew his… boyfriend? was a former spy, he'd never really considered the implications of that and suddenly that was all he could think about. His own life hadn't exactly been the most virtuous, but he was pretty sure that that didn't compare with the kind of things a spy would have to do. What kind of things had Souta done in his life before SGS? before the change of heart that led to him giving up his spying days. He didn't like to think about the fact that the man sleeping/not-sleeping next to him, a man he trusted with his life, had done things that would be considered morally reprehensible by most people. How much damage had Souta done? Had he deliberately hurt people? No, that last he couldn't believe. By accident, maybe, in his search for the ultimate rush, but he couldn't imagine Souta going out of his way to hurt someone. Well, not an innocent someone, anyway. Still, the coldness in Souta's eyes before… that didn't match up with the man Masumi knew, the man who would willingly throw himself in front of blaster fire to protect a team-mate.

He sighed in frustration. This was ridiculous. Whatever Souta had done, it was in the past and had nothing to do with the person he was now. Telling himself that didn't work quite as well as he'd hoped it would and, combined with the restless tossing and brief wakings up only to fall asleep again of the man next to him, it wasn't surprising that he didn't get much sleep that night either.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Slumped in his chair, Masumi fought to keep his eyes away from Souta. The previous night had left him feeling drained, and it wasn't much comfort that the Up High Adventurer looked just as worn as he felt, if anything it made him worry more. Souta was always smiling, everyone knew that. It was usually a toss up between him and Natsuki for who smiled more, but Natsuki was winning that competition by a mile today, though she seemed confused by the depressed air surrounding Souta this morning.

She wasn't the only one. "Souta-san looks tired this morning," Eiji noted as he sat in his chair, idly turning over the leek in his hand again and again.

"He didn't sleep well." It was out of his mouth before he could stop himself. "I mean, that's what he said earlier."

Eiji raised a sceptical eyebrow and his mouth twitched with a knowing smile. "I'm sure he did."

Masumi scowled at the Dazzling Adventurer. Most Annoying Person Ever, no doubt about it. That Eiji and Akashi shared quarters more times than not was an open secret, but that didn't mean that Masumi wanted everyone knowing about him and Souta, not when he wasn't sure himself what exactly was happening between the two of them, other than sex, anyway. He frowned as Natsuki said something to Souta that made the man smile, a genuine smile for all that it was small, and he stomped down the surge of envy the interaction between the two caused. Souta and Natsuki were close, he knew, both of them sharing sunny natures and mysterious pasts, and Natsuki could make anyone smile, even Sakura-san, so it shouldn't surprise him that she would be the one to make Souta smile, really smile, even when he was clearly so down.

His thoughts were interrupted by the appearance on screen of Mister Voice, announcing the presence of a Precious that had apparently drawn the attention of Dark Shadow and he inwardly groaned at the inevitable _snap!_ "Attack" that followed the announcement. His irritation must have shown on his face because he briefly noted the quick grin on Souta's face before they moved out to face Dark Shadow yet again. His spirits gently buoyed by Souta's emergence from depression, he rolled his eyes as he turned and ran out the door. Things were looking up.

* * *

He paced uneasily up and down by the side of the bed in what passed for an infirmary at SGS headquarters. It was ridiculous, he thought. They had state of the art weaponry and surveillance technology, but their infirmary was little more than a small room that could only really house one person. Precious collected, they'd returned to base and Souta had immediately been transferred to this pathetic excuse of a medical facility. So what if SGS headquarters used the museum as a front, the private areas were pretty high-tech, there was no reason they shouldn't have better medical facilities than they did.

_Sparks flying out the corner of his eye before he turned and found Souta lying unhenshined on the floor, eyes closed and clearly unconscious_. He flinched as the memory hit him and his eyes fell back to the bed where Souta was lying, yet to wake up. Clearly Souta hadn't recovered from the dream he'd had last night, because he wasn't his usual sharp self in the inevitable fight between themselves and Dark Shadow, lacking the usual agility that characterised his fighting style. It wasn't that he hadn't fought well, just not up to his usual high standards and he'd gone down fairly easily for him. Even Kaze no Shizuka had seemed surprised, and the brief flicker of… something on her face at the sight left him feeling uneasy. The connection between Souta and the ninja woman was something he couldn't explain, but disliked on principle. While it seemed to only be Souta chasing yet another pretty face he could deal with it, ignore it. This though, this was different, suggesting that whatever drew Souta to her maybe went both ways. She'd frozen, much as he had when Souta went down, but he'd recovered first, enough to aim a blast at her that drew her attention away from _his_ boyfriend and back to the fight.

His hands clenched into fists at his sides. Souta was his, the Dark Shadow woman couldn't have him.

He growled under his breath as he turned again. Pace. Pace. Pace. Turn. And again.

Sakura's brief examination had revealed a worrying bump on the back of Souta's head, presumably when he went down he hit his head hard, hard enough to mean he was still unconscious, hard enough to maybe cause some problems when he woke up. He shook his head fiercely at that. Souta would be fine. He always was.

A quiet sound from the bed drew his attention back to the sight of eyes fluttering open and he felt himself smiling before he clamped down on the reaction. It wouldn't do to let Souta know he'd actually worried. "About time you woke up," he said gruffly. "You can't spend all day in bed, you know."

Instead of the expected smile and retort, Masumi was given only a sharp look as Souta sat up, gaze darting round the room, doubtless taking in everything. "Who are you?" came the clipped question. "What is this place?"

"Souta, stop fooling around. It's not funny." The Up High Adventurer's humour sometimes left a lot to be desired, but this was pushing it a bit. He blinked as Souta rolled off the bed, coming up in a wary stance that only staggered a little. Reaching over he grabbed hold of the nearest wrist to tug on it. "Don't be an idiot, get back in bed. You shouldn't be--" He didn't get to finish the sentence as his grip was easily disabled as a prelude to being flipped onto the floor, gasping for breath as the wind was knocked solidly out of him. He had one moment to take in the cold eyes from the night before, then Souta was leaving, jacket and Accelluar in hand.

* * *

Walking through the corridors towards the salon, Eiji was stunned when he almost walked into Souta, although why the other man was walking so quietly he had no idea. "Hey, I didn't know you were up." It was strange that Masumi hadn't said anything, especially since he hadn't left the infirmary once. For someone so determined to keep his feelings for Souta hidden, Masumi was incredibly open. He started in surprise as Souta stepped back immediately, keeping his distance, it was so unlike the other man. "What's wrong with you?" he demanded, the Watcher part of his mind noting the ready stance Souta was standing in, ready to attack or defend. "Where's Masumi?" he continued, suddenly starting to have a very bad feeling about this. He dodged backwards against the spin kick unexpectedly thrown his way and blocked the blow aimed at his head. "Souta!" he shouted in frustration, "What's wrong with you?" He now had a pretty good idea of what had happened to Masumi. A lightning quick series of punches and kicks left him on the backfoot and unable to mount a serious defence and he fell back against the wall. For someone with a head injury, Souta was doing some considerable damage. As the Up High Adventurer ran off down the corridor, Eiji raised his wrist to his mouth and activated the communications aspect of his GoGo Changer.

"Akashi, something's wrong with Souta, he's gone nuts. Try and stop him leaving the base, I'm going to find Masumi."

"Understood. Join us when you find him."

"I will." Closing the link, Eiji headed for the infirmary, but just as he got there, Masumi was staggering out the door. "Masumi…"

"I'm fine," the Fast Adventurer snapped. "We need to find Souta."

"The others are already on it. Come on, we need to join them."

* * *

Kaze no Shizuka was walking through the streets of the city in normal human clothes, rather than her usual outfit. That particular style of dress would only draw attention to her, the swords tended to attract attention for some reason, and she didn't want to be noticed, she just wanted to walk. In her mind she saw BoukenBlue go down again, stupid naïve Boukenger, always getting in the way. She didn't know why she kept seeing that moment over and over, but she did, and it was getting annoying. She should be glad one of the irritating Boukengers was out of the way, so why wasn't she? Why had she frozen like that? It was bad fighting and she had been chastised severely for it, for allowing herself to become distracted. And distracted she had been, long enough for the Boukenger Yaiba was so focused on to attack her again, after his own momentary freezing.

A shout to her left drew her attention and she pouted. She was in ordinary clothes now, she shouldn't have been discovered! She relaxed when that fear proved groundless, but then she stared at what she was seeing, unable to believe her eyes. Round the back of the SGS Museum, and how she'd ended up there she had no idea, five Boukenger were advancing on the remaining one, the naïve boy with the brown hair who had so taken over her thoughts on this walk. So, he was alright, then. Good. Or, no, not good! Bad! Very bad! That meant the team was back to full strength. But… why was he backing away from them?

Something inside fluttered happily. There was an opportunity here. What better way to destroy the annoying Boukengers other than using one of their own? Nodding cheerfully to herself she crept closer and listened to the other five Boukenger trying to convince their comrade of their sincerity. Apparently without success. Well, she had an advantage they didn't. She knew that BoukenBlue thought she was attractive, he'd said so on a number (well, a couple, anyway) of occasions and that was how she'd get him to trust her. Then she could take him back home and let Maboroshi no Gekkou work out how best to use him. Plan all worked out, she ran out of the side street and caught hold of the Boukenger's arm.

"Souta-san! There you are!" She smiled inwardly as the boy's face went from annoyed to interested as he took in her features, and the complete lack of recognition was at once both encouraging and disturbing. If he didn't know who she was, he had no reason to run from her and that was enough to make her ignore the outraged expressions on the faces of the other Boukenger. "I've been looking everywhere for you, I was so worried." Thinking about it, she thought it was probably the first time she'd called him by name.

"Kaze no Shizuka! What are you doing?" yelled BoukenBlack, but she ignored him.

"Souta, what have they been telling you?" His expression wavered slightly and she grabbed at the chance. "They are not your friends, no matter what they tell you, all they want to do is use you. If you want answers you must come with me."

"Answers?" he asked dubiously.

"It's what you want, isn't it?" she replied, holding out a hand to him, a hand he warily took. Again she ignored the outrage on the faces of the others, elation creating butterflies in her stomach. This time, she had gotten the better of the Boukengers.

* * *

Masumi felt like screaming when the Dark Shadow slut reached out to Souta and he felt his gut twist as Souta took the hand she was offering. "Souta!" he yelled, unable to believe this was really happening. The only response he got was a raised eyebrow as Souta turned away from him. The calls of the other Boukenger were just as ineffective and in the end all he could do was watch as Souta left with Shizuka, main representative of Dark Shadow.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The voices around him echoed in his ears as he glowered at the table, but he couldn't focus on them and they were reduced to meaningless babble until one voice somehow got through.

"Why would Souta go with her? She's Negative and he knows that." Eiji.

"Because when he sees a pretty face he stops thinking with his brain." He couldn't help himself, the words spilling out of him bitterly. It wasn't true, he knew that. Souta had used his womanising ways as deflection before and probably would do so again in the future. He just didn't see how it was being used as deflection _this_ time. He glanced up into the sudden quiet and found the other four regarding him with varying expressions: Eiji and Akashi both wore knowing half-smiles while Sakura had raised an elegant eyebrow at his comment. Natsuki just looked confused.

"I think he went because he believes he will get answers from Kaze or Dark Shadow that he won't get from us," Akashi said in reply to Eiji's question. "Although the answers he's likely to get won't be the right ones."

"But how would Dark Shadow even know Souta-kun was vulnerable?" Sakura commented thoughtfully. "We only just found out ourselves."

Akashi shrugged. "Opportunity, most likely, although what Dark Shadow was doing here is an open question." He paused, then looked over at Masumi, head tilted to one side. "Souta didn't sleep well last night, you said."

Masumi froze, the direct question unexpected. "I, well, he--"

Eiji rolled his eyes. "Masumi, everyone here knows the two of you are sleeping together. What made you think it was a secret?"

Caught off guard, Masumi simply stared at the Dazzling Adventurer in non-comprehension before he flushed as the realisation hit home.

"Masumi," Akashi said, recapturing his attention. "He didn't sleep well?"

Sighing, Masumi shook his head. "No. He had a nightmare of some kind, a bad one. I think it was still bothering him this morning."

The Boukenger leader pursued his lips thoughtfully. "Do you know what he was dreaming about?"

"No. Only that it was enough to make him react badly when he woke up suddenly."

Sakura lifted her chin suddenly as she caught on to where the line of questioning was going. "Could it have been about his life before SGS?"

Hesitating, Masumi remembered cold eyes and ruthless determination. "Maybe. It didn't seem to be about anything related to SGS or Precious."

Eiji scowled. "If he's returned to his old way of thinking we're going to have problems getting him to trust us. We'd just better hope he's suspicious enough of Dark Shadow not to give in to them."

"He won't," Natsuki chipped in firmly. "Souta-san won't help them."

"Better hope not."

* * *

Shizuka walked outside the house to where the Boukenger was standing, leaning against the railing. It had taken some fast talking, but it seemed that Gekkou-sama had seen the possibilities of having the boy on their side, and after an extensive interview with him, he had let her off with only mild discipline for acting on impulse and bringing the Boukenger to their home.

"So, what do you think?" she asked lightly, standing next to him at the railing.

He looked over at her and gave her a small smile. "I don't know what to think."

"Do you believe me when I say they're not your friends? That all they want is to use you and your abilities?"

The smile brightened. "A pretty face such as yours, how could I not believe?"

She felt her cheeks warm for some unknown reason, but she continued anyway. "They will not leave you alone, you know. They will try to get you back."

The smile remained in place, but the features around it hardened. "Not if I don't want them to."

* * *

Lying on his bed, Masumi scowled up at the ceiling. Two days and Souta was still missing. Two days of Dark Shadow brainwashing him, if he was even still alive. Two days of helplessness. He hated it. With Souta's accellular switched off they had no way of pinpointing its location, so if they were going to use that, they had to wait for it to be activated. So they'd waited. And waited. And waited. Two days of waiting and he couldn't take anymore, he just wanted something to happen. He didn't even care if it wasn't Dark Shadow they went up against next, Gaja or the Questers would do just as well as targets to vent his frustrations on. Dark Shadow though, was the preferred target, and he couldn't deny that.

Just then his accellular went off, calling him to the salon and he all but jumped off his bed. Finally, some action.

He was both pleased and dismayed when Dark Shadow turned out to be the adversaries this time as it was a chance to even the score, along with the possibility of finding Souta. What he wasn't sure of was how Souta would react and the odds of having to fight him were uncomfortably high.

At first it seemed that his fears were groundless in one respect: there was no sign of Souta in the battle, in yet _another_ forest, and Masumi was about to put the possibility behind him when the Kaasu Kaze had summoned meant he got separated from the others. Disposing of them easily, he was about to rejoin the remaining members of the team when a voice behind him brought him to an abrupt halt.

"You fight well."

He turned slowly, not wanting to see what he knew he would. Sure enough Souta was standing there, regarding him with an amused expression.

* * *

The Kaasu destroyed, Akashi turned his team on the Dark Shadow woman and the monster she'd brought with her. About to give the order to attack, he was pre-empted by Natsuki's "Where's Masumi?" and he took a quick glance round. Sure enough, Black was missing, but there was nothing he could do about it. Masumi would have to deal with whatever was keeping him by himself.

* * *

Masumi stared at Souta in disbelief. The other man looked fine, there no sign that he'd been ill-treated by Dark Shadow, and if anything it was the exact opposite. Souta looked good. His Boukenger jacket was nowhere to be seen, but the trousers were the same close fitting temptation they always were and the black shirt was the same, the one they all wore under their jackets. Only the jacket itself was different, with Souta apparently going for the all-in-black look with a close-fitting tailored jacket of a material similar to their Boukenger ones. Even his hair was the same. Still, there was something… off about him, a slightly different look to his features that was enough to throw Masumi off balance.

"So," Souta continued. "Which one are you? You all look the same with those suits on." That last came attached with a faintly taunting smile.

Masumi dropped the henshin before he realised he'd done it and he saw Souta's head come up slightly, eyebrow also rising.

"Ah. The one at my bedside when I woke up. Very solicitous of you."

Masumi scowled at the mocking tone; Souta wasn't himself, he reminded himself firmly. "It's what friends do," he said instead, although he came very close to saying something else entirely.

"Friends? I don't think so. Friendship is an illusion."

"No, it isn't," he snapped back, ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach. It had been a hard learned lesson for him, but the other Boukenger _were_ his friends, even Takoaka Eiji, and he wasn't going to let anyone, not even Souta, scorn that. "What about Toba-san? Wasn't he your friend?" That made Souta pause for a moment, his expression one of confusion. "Yeah, I know about him. He's your friend, right? Well, so are we. We are your friends, Souta, you have to believe that. You can't believe anything Dark Shadow tells you, about us or anything else."

Souta laughed at that, his brief moment of hesitation gone, but it was a strange combination of the familiar and unfamiliar and it was incredibly disconcerting. "Of course I don't trust them. I don't trust anyone."

That last was a kick to the gut, even though he knew Souta wasn't himself and saying a lot of crazy things.

"Why help them if you don't trust them?"

Souta's head tilted in a heart-wrenchingly familiar gesture, then he shrugged. "It suits me. For the moment. Given time that may change."

"You're using them," Masumi said, in a moment of painful clarity. "They think they're using you, but it's the other way round. Isn't it?"

"Smarter than you look, aren't you?" came the mocking response and now the air was thrumming with tension as Souta pulled his accellular out of his jacket pocket and examined it thoughtfully. "You know, I thought this was a cell phone at first, but it isn't, is it?" He flipped it open and ostensibly continued his study. "They had to tell me how to use it, but I think I've got the hang of it now. It's not really all that hard, after all."

Hesitating only briefly, Masumi grabbed his own accellular out of its holder and held it loosely in his hand. "Souta, don't make me use this."

He was rewarded by a thin smile. "Can't fight without it?" was the mocking question, but Souta pocketed the henshin device anyway. "Come on," he said lightly. "Show me what you have."

Sliding his accellular back into its holder Masumi readied himself, or as much as he could anyway. It wasn't as if he hadn't known this was a possibility after all. Perhaps unsurprisingly it was Souta who acted first, leaving him on the defensive. Before this had happened, he'd never expected that Souta's lethal grace would be turned against him, but now that was exactly what was happening, and while his fighting skills were good, they couldn't match Souta's speed and flexibility, not to mention the difficulties involved in having to fight a lover that had been brainwashed, even if said lover didn't realise it. Finding himself thrown into a nearby tree, he was pinned there, with his arm held behind his back.

"I won't be used by anyone," Souta said in his ear. "Not by Dark Shadow and not by you."

That said, the pressure on his arm suddenly disappeared, but when Masumi spun round, Souta was gone and he was still staring into empty space when the other Boukenger found him.

* * *

And that was how things stayed for the next few weeks. Whenever they went up against Dark Shadow it seemed that Souta was always on the periphery, always looking for an opportunity to get him alone, almost as if Masumi held some kind of fascination for him, despite his denial of their friendship and everything else.

"Why do you persist in trying to convince me we're friends?" Souta asked, after he'd reiterated the point yet again during their current battle, this time taking place in an abandoned part of the industrial sector. "You can't still think you can sway me to come to you."

"Because we _are_ friends," he snapped. _Among other things_, he mentally added, not yet ready to admit it out loud, not if it would give Souta a weapon to use against him.

"But we can't be, don't you see that?" Masumi frowned at the almost plaintive tone to Souta's voice, almost as if the other man were desperate that he believe it, maybe because the other man was trying to convince himself? "Unless you have information on people, you can't trust them not to betray you, because they always will. And I don't know anything about you, not one thing, Boukenger. So you see, we can't possibly be friends." The smile that had started so sure and mocking three weeks ago had lost its confident edge and was now brittle, as if one good blow would shatter the façade and break the man open. That sense of vulnerability, along with the chance to finally, _finally_, get Souta back, was enough to make him temporarily ignore the pain that came with the implications of Souta having information on him.

"We _are_ friends, Souta. Not just you and me, but the others as well. You're one of us, even if you've forgotten that, and we're not giving up on you."

Souta's expression wavered, the vulnerability again showing through, and it seemed as if the constant association with Dark Shadow over the past few weeks had taken its toll, because Souta seemed desperate to connect with someone, and the inner struggle was plain on his face, his desire to believe what Masumi was saying warring with his ingrained tendencies towards suspicion.

"Masumi, I…" Souta started and Masumi blinked in surprise. It was the first time Souta had called him by name in a little over three weeks and he wasn't sure what that meant, that Souta was remembering things about his life at SGS or that he'd simply overheard Nastsuki call his name instead of colour designation and was repeating what he'd heard.

"We're your friends," he repeated. "Come with me and let me prove it to you." He held out a hand to him, willing his boyfriend to take it with everything he had. Souta shifted uneasily in place, his eyes fixed on the hand being offered to him. His fingers twitched slightly, but just as he started to take it a white token drifted through the air and landed on his shirt. They both looked down at it in surprise, but then it fluttered in an unseen wind as it came to life, blue light flickering round it like an electrical surge. Souta's head jerked backwards, expression a grimace of pain, and he fell to his knees, hands braced against the floor as his body shuddered.

Before Masumi could react there was a dark laugh behind him and he whirled round, coming face to face with Yami no Yaiba. "Did you really think it would be that easy to get him back, brat? We're always prepared for contingencies." The Dark Shadow warrior looked past him to where Souta had collapsed and gestured with his free hand. "Come, Bouken-slave, do as your master wills." Masumi spun back round to find Souta getting to his feet. "No," he whispered in anguish. "No." Lifeless eyes met his, as blank as the rest of the other man's expression, and he couldn't believe this was happening. Even before when Souta was helping Dark Shadow he'd never been like this. There had always been a vibrant life to him, not this stomach-churning blankness. He had one moment to take everything in before Yaiba's next words sank in.

"Bouken-slave, kill him."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Masumi stared, then blocked automatically as Souta threw a punch at his head, then dodged the spin kick aimed at his side. "Souta, snap out of it! Come on!"

No such luck, Souta just kept coming, always with the blank look in his eyes and no sign of the intelligence or humour that usually characterised the Up High Adventurer's expression. Ignoring the sick feelings in his stomach Masumi fought on, hindered by the impulse to hold back, not wanting to hurt the other man, no matter that he for his part was trying to kill him. Despite the fact that Souta was under Yaiba's control, literally, he still fought like himself, only without his usual initiative and that gave Masumi hope that maybe this wasn't the complete disaster it seemed.

They broke apart and circled each other warily, but Yaiba seemed to be growling tired of the match for he suddenly pointed his sword in Souta's direction. "Bouken-slave. Transform."

"No," Masumi groaned as Souta's hand went automatically to the holster on his arm and pulled out the accellular, running it down his sleeve. A fleeting flash of light caused Masumi to turn his head away, and when he turned back it was to come face to face with BoukenBlue, Surviblade in hand. Knowing he wouldn't stand a chance if he didn't transform himself, he pulled out his own accellular and activated it. At least this would even the odds a little.

With the battle taken to the next level, the stakes were that much higher, and Masumi knew this was his last chance. If he didn't get Souta back now, he never would, and that knowledge spurred him on, prompting him to give the fight everything he had, no matter the cost. Their blades clashed time and again, casting off sparks every time they met. It was the first time they'd fought henshined; always before they had refrained from taking that step, perhaps because they both knew there would be no going back from that point, that one of them would have to destroy the other, something that Souta had seemed strangely reluctant to do, considering he had allied himself with Dark Shadow. With that knowledge in the back of his mind, Masumi fought on. He wasn't going to lose this battle, but he wasn't going to lose Souta either. There had to be a compromise, a way to break the spell, a way to get through to the man beneath the mindless exterior. There had to be.

With a surge of dismay, he noticed that he was slowing down, getting tired and that was not a good sign. The only saving grace was that Souta seemed just as tired. However, the downside to that was that as long as Yaiba controlled him, Souta would keep fighting, wouldn't stop for anything less than a direct order to stop.

The time it took to think that left him distracted enough for Souta to take advantage and Masumi had a close encounter with a nearby wall as he hit it hard, his henshin failing as he dropped to the floor. Struggling to pick himself up, feeling as if every bone in his body was on fire, he managed to twist slightly and look up, only to find Souta's Surviblade slicing through the air towards him. Reflexively closing his eyes, Masumi opened them again a moment later when the blade failed to connect and he found with the surprise that Souta was also lying on the floor, his henshin failed. The other four members of their team stood between them as Souta pushed himself to his feet.

"Souta, stand down," Akashi ordered, breaking his own colour-designations-only-when-in-battle rule, no doubt hoping it would have some effect, although what he could hope to achieve where Masumi had already failed was anyone's guess. When the order didn't work, the only result being a feral snarl as the former spy launched himself at them in an attempt to reach his target, the others threw him back and, after all their attempts at holding him or stopping him failed, Akashi regretfully summoned the Acceltector, the weapon materialising around his chest. "Blue, don't make it come to this." Again, no effect, and Akashi readied the blaster. "Souta, last chance. Stand down." When it became apparent that that was not going to happen, Akashi tightened his grip on the weapon, finger poised to pull the trigger.

"No!" Masumi shouted and launched himself at the Chief, the blast going wide. Standing in front of the others he placed himself between Souta and the other Boukenger. "You can't."

The dark laugh from before came again and Yaiba rematerialised from wherever he'd been hiding. "So very touching, brat, trying to save him when you couldn't even save yourself."

Masumi stared at the Dark Shadow warrior and felt his blood pounding in his ears, every inch of him screaming at him to take the guy apart.

"Yes," the warrior continued. "Very touching. And not enough. Never mind, Boukenger, you'll join him soon. You're almost there, brat, soon you'll be mine."

"I will never join you!" Masumi spat.

"I'm sure that's what your little friend would have said. Before he joined us. Think about it, child. You," he finished, turning to Souta, "stand down. Your chance to destroy him will come, for now we fall back, let the Boukenger reflect on their situation."

"Yes, master," Souta replied, tonelessly, and when the resulting _crack!_ and smoke had dissipated, both of them were gone.

* * *

Storming into the salon, Masumi slammed his fist into the nearest wall with a yell. So far, none of the others had called him on his actions, but he knew that state of grace wouldn't last and he would have to explain himself. It was just… he didn't want to deal with them right now. Instead, all he wanted was to rage and scream and otherwise let out his frustrations and feelings of utter impotence. He'd been so close, so damn close…

"Masumi, what did you think you were doing?" Naturally it was Eiji who first broke the silence, but Masumi ignored him. At least until Eiji forcibly dragged him round to face them. "What were you thinking?" the former Ashu Watcher demanded. "We had a chance to stop him if you hadn't got in the way."

"He's not himself and that blast would have killed him," Masumi snarled back. "I was thinking I didn't want him to die, how about you?"

"Did you not think that perhaps Souta-kun would have preferred that option?" Sakura interjected quietly. "As you say, Souta is not himself, it may be that what is left of him would rather be dead than do any more damage to the people he cares about."

Masumi turned his glare on the former combat specialist. There were times when her logical and detached attitude were an asset, but at times like this they made him furious. He couldn't believe she could be so dispassionate about something like this. "It won't come to that," he snapped.

"No?" Eiji asked sceptically. "If we hadn't got there when we had you would be dead by now. He's not Souta anymore."

"So, what? We just give up? No. He's being controlled, all we have to do is break the hold Yaiba has on him."

"Not possible. Dark Shadow's magic is powerful and without a Precious specific to this we don't stand a chance at breaking the spell."

"You did, with Akutagami. He was controlled just the same as Souta is."

"Only because he gave me a token in advance that would break the spell, and you saw what it did to him. His mind is gone, now, thanks to that spell, would you have that happen to Souta, too?"

"I don't believe you, you hypocritical bastard!" Masumi exploded. "You wouldn't be here if Akashi had given up on you. You'd still be the thing you hate the most, you'd still be Ashu!" Eiji flinched at that, then straightened again, eyes narrowing as he prepared to launch right back, but Masumi wasn't finished yet. "The only reason you're not is because Akashi refused to give up on you and he didn't even know you! Souta's your friend but you're still willing to give up on him? You don't deserve to be here with that kind of attitude!"

"That wasn't what I meant!" Eiji yelled back.

"No?"

"No!"

"Alright, that's enough," Akashi rapped out into the charged silence. "Now," he continued when the silence was respected, "how close were you to getting Souta back before Yaiba arrived?"

"Very," Masumi replied, his frustration coming through once more. "I was _this_ _close_ to getting him to come back here when Yaiba showed up." He held his fingers mere millimetres apart to illustrate his point.

"Alright, that gives us a place to start. For all his faults, Souta's mind is strong, perhaps given time he will be able to break the hold Yaiba has on him."

Masumi frowned but nodded anyway. As a plan it sucked, but it was better than the other option.

"Natsuki has an idea."

* * *

Kaze no Shizuka sat in a corner staring at the young man who had once been BoukenBlue. With Yaiba and Gekkou discussing some new plan that she wasn't privy to, she had free time on her hands and right now she couldn't take her eyes off the figure sitting opposite her, staring at nothing. The feelings churning around inside her were unfamiliar, but she knew that she didn't like this. Not one bit. This wasn't what she'd had in mind when she'd brought the naïve boy here. Once again her plan had backfired on her. The young man who'd flirted with her, spoken with her, the one person who hadn't treated her like some incompetent child, was gone and all that was left was a mindless creature, blindly following orders and inactive while waiting for the next order to arrive.

Despite everything that had happened in her life up to this point, Shizuka had never felt quite so alone.

* * *

"I have my doubts, lord," Yaiba said quietly. "Using the boy as a bargaining chip might not be that effective. It's a tactic we've tried before that met only with failure."

"Because of BoukenSilver and his late arrival. Nonetheless, the Boukenger complied with our demands in order to regain their comrades in that instance. They will do so again. And this time, Kaze no Shizuka and her incompetence will not be in charge of the plan. You will. Do not fail me, Yaiba. Get me the Precious I require."

Yaiba bowed low. "Yes, lord."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"They want what?" Eiji demanded as Akashi re-read the message that had been delivered.

"The Solomon ring, the Hamlyn pipe and the Sword of the Three Kingdoms."

"That's ridiculous. They're using Souta to get hold of Precious they couldn't get the first time."

"So it would seem," Akashi replied, rolling up the paper again.

"So what do we do? We can't let them have the Precious, not when we know what they'll do with them."

"What about Souta?" Masumi demanded. "Are you just going to ignore what they'll do to _him_ if they don't what they want?"

"No," Akashi interjected. "We give them exactly what they want."

* * *

In the darkness of a room, a young man sat, staring at nothing. Once Mogami Souta, former international agent, former Boukenger, now he simply existed, waiting for the Voice that would command him and give him purpose. But, somewhere in the empty darkness his mind had become, something started to brighten, lightening the edges and slowly pushing away the nothingness.

"Bouken-slave," came the Voice. "Come with me."

* * *

"Are you sure this will work?" Masumi asked dubiously.

"Yes. We wait until Souta is given to us, then we retrieve the Precious before Dark Shadow can get them."

Masumi frowned at that, but didn't comment further. He just hoped this would work.

Arriving at the specified co-ordinates, which turned out to be a deserted temple, they entered the courtyard and looked around. Yami no Yaiba was standing on the opposite side of the courtyard with Souta standing next to him, as blank as he had been before.

"You have what we asked for?" the warrior asked.

"We do."

"Good. Obviously you value your comrade more than it appeared in our last encounter. Place the Precious on the floor and step back. Then I will release your comrade to you."

Without looking at them Akashi simply nodded and placed the box he was holding on the floor, stepping away as requested. Sakura was next, no expression crossing her face indicating what she was thinking. Eiji followed, scowl on his face that said everything about what exactly he thought of this plan.

"We've done what you asked," Akashi said, "Now give us Souta."

"As you wish." Yaiba turned his head and nodded. "Go."

Mechanically Souta moved across the courtyard until he was standing with his former teammates.

"Yaiba!" Masumi yelled. "Return him to normal."

The Dark Shadow warrior smiled and inclined his head. "Bouken-slave. Attack!"

"_What_?!"

There was little time to be surprised as Souta exploded into action and Masumi cursed under his breath as he again dodged the blows aimed at his head. They hadn't expected Dark Shadow to hold up their end of the bargain, but this was getting ridiculous.

As the others dodged and tried their best to hold Souta down, Eiji went after Yaiba, who had taken advantage of the confusion to take the Precious. No doubt that had been his intention all along. In order to create more confusion and help his retreat, the warrior called in the back-up. "Kaasu! Get them!"

And that was how, once again, he came to be fighting Souta while Yaiba made off with the Hamlyn pipe, the one Precious he'd been able to get hold of. While the others were once again delayed by the Kaasu and the need to protect the remaining Precious, Masumi had been left to try and salvage something from this disaster. "Souta, stop. You have to listen to me." His only response was to get his feet kicked out from under him. "I mean it, you need to listen." From his vantage point on the floor, Masumi lashed out, returning the favour and bringing Souta to the floor as well. As they both got to their feet, Masumi launched himself at his boyfriend, throwing his arms round him, pinning the other man's arms to his sides.

"Listen to me," he hissed in Souta's ear. _Natsuki, I hope you__'re right about this._ "The things I said before, they were true but they weren't the whole story." The body in his arms struggled then stilled, almost as if something of Souta were listening. "Yes, we're friends, but we're more than that. Before all this happened, we were seeing each other, sleeping together, whatever you want to call it." The man who had once been Souta tensed, but Masumi kept going, keeping a firm grip on his boyfriend so he couldn't bolt. "Don't believe me? You have a sensitive spot right at the base of your throat and if I hit it just right I can get you to agree to almost anything. You have a scar across your lower back, an old one, although you never told me how you got it. You play the guitar almost incessantly and it drives me nuts." That last wasn't true, not anymore. It had annoyed him to start with, when he'd thought Souta played to make himself look cool or whatever, and he'd never stopped to think that maybe Souta played simply because he liked playing, because he found it relaxing. When he'd realised that, his annoyance over it had faded, and now it didn't even register on his irritation scale. Not much anyway.

He carried on talking, the words spilling out of him as he recalled every memory of Souta he had, both sexual and not, dredging up things he'd thought he'd forgotten. This had been Natsuki's idea; attacking Souta's mind, his reason, hadn't worked and to continue in such attempts wouldn't get through Yaiba's control, Dark Shadow's power was too strong. So-- if you couldn't attack the mind, attack the heart, something impossible to control. He wasn't sure if it was working though, Souta was still tense and hadn't responded in any way. _Alright_, he thought, _time to bring out the big guns_.

"… more importantly because I--" he hesitated, the words sticking in his throat. _Come on_, he thought to himself in exasperation. _Just say it. Three little words, how hard can it be? _

Apparently very hard. This was something he'd never even admitted to himself and he wasn't sure if he could just come out with it now. Torn, he had the bizarre mental image of having tiny copies of himself, one on each shoulder. One was whispering that he didn't have to say this, he could find some other way to bring Souta back to his senses and he wouldn't have to expose himself like this. On the other hand, the other was shouting at him to just _tell_ him already, that it wasn't like he had a lot to lose anymore and if he _didn't_ he'd never get Souta back.

"I, I, um… Damn, this is hard. I--"

_TELL HIM_, _**TELL HIM**_, screamed the tiny figure to his left, and now the mental image included the figure jumping up and down angrily and pounding at the side of his head with tiny fists, trying to beat the sense into him. _Just tell him already!"_

Masumi paused, took a deep breath, and braced himself. "I--" his voice failed him, yet again.

"I know."

Masumi froze, then stepped back, reluctantly loosening his grip, but still keeping his hands on Souta's arms. Souta looked back at him, half smile on his face, eyes warm.

"You, you're okay," Masumi stuttered. "You're… you."

The smile grew. "Yes, I am. Thank you."

"Wait, this isn't some kind of trick is it? No last effort to try and carry out Yaiba's orders?"

Souta flinched, then shook his head with one of the bright smiles that hid so much. "No, no trick. Just me." Hesitating a moment, the Up High Adventurer seemed to make up his mind about something and leant forward slightly. The kiss was soft and unlike anything they'd shared before, almost an apology as much as anything else, but Masumi fell into it anyway, never wanting the moment to end. If only they could stay like this forever… He'd never felt quite as happy as he did right now, but he couldn't seem to care about that, that feeling like this was so unlike him. As long as he had Souta back, nothing else mattered.

Eventually though, they moved apart, foreheads resting against each other, eyes closed. "Ready to go home?" he asked and felt Souta nod.

"More than ready."

Before they could move though, there was a choked gasp from Souta and Masumi's eyes flew open. Souta's expression was bewildered, but then he started to drop to the floor, Masumi catching him before he landed. Standing behind Souta was Yami no Yaiba, sword extended. "You thought you had your lover back, brat? Think again. Dark Shadow does not tolerate betrayal." Conscious only of the choked breaths echoing in his ears, Masumi felt his anger rising, but then came a blast of power that knocked him to the floor and Souta out of his arms. Temporarily blinded by the light, when his vision cleared it was to see Yaiba standing over Souta, currently trying to push himself to his feet and failing, before the sword flashed down.

Launching himself at the man who'd almost destroyed his life when he was a child, Masumi was still too late. Yaiba was gone and Souta… Masumi dropped to his knees beside the still form, shaking it desperately. "Souta, wake up." Nothing. "Wake up, I said! Why do you never listen to me? Wake up, damn it! Wake up!" Nothing.

Fingers tangled in Souta's shirt, Masumi buried his face in Souta's chest. This couldn't be happening.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

_This can't be happening_, he thought frantically. _It can't_. It wasn't fair. Souta was back to normal and everything was supposed to have been fine. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

Unaware of how long he knelt there, Masumi was equally unaware of when grief turned to rage. Yaiba would pay for this. If it was the last thing he did, Yami no Yaiba would pay. Brushing a few strands of hair out of Souta's face, he spent a moment taking one last look, taking in everything about his boyfriend, all the things he'd never see again, then got to his feet. Yaiba was still around here somewhere, all he had to do was find him.

* * *

In the end it wasn't that hard. Apparently the Dark Shadow warrior had been waiting for him. "Well, brat, you took your time. Are you ready?"

"Are you?" Masumi snapped back, grabbing his accellular out of its holder and running it down his arm. Exploding into action, he threw himself at the man who'd taken everything from him. His fighting skills had grown since their last one-on-one battle and this time it would end very differently, this time he would end it, no mercy for Yami no Yaiba.

Blind to everything except the clash of blades, he didn't notice the other Boukenger arriving on the scene and even if he had he probably wouldn't have cared. Nothing mattered now, save destroying the man who'd taken Souta away from him.

"That's it, brat. You can feel it, can't you?" Yaiba taunted. "The anger feeding you, giving you strength. Use it. Embrace the rage, Boukenger, embrace the darkness. Only then will you be able to defeat me."

_Not a problem_. Dropping his SurviBlade, Masumi summoned the Acceltector. Yaiba wasn't escaping _that_.

"Masumi, stop!"

The voices were slowly starting to permeate the red haze, but he shook them off. He'd listen when this was over. The blast from the Acceltector knocked him to the floor, more powerful than he'd expected, but at least it taken out Yaiba. Or so he thought.

Dismayed, he watched as the ninja climbed slowly to his feet. "Nice try. Got anything more?"

Before he could try again there were arms around him, holding him back. "Black, enough."

"Let go of me," he snarled. "I have to--"

"You have to nothing. We will finish this."

"No!" He surged forward, before being pulled back. _He_ was going to finish this, no one else.

"Masumi, no." That wasn't Akashi, the light voice giving him pause where nothing else had. "What would Souta-san say if he were here?"

About to retort that it didn't matter what Souta would have said, because Souta was… he suddenly had a very clear image of what Souta would say. In front of his eyes, Souta stood there, that constant smile on his face. _"Masumi, enough. If you really want to wear yourself out, I have much more interesting ways we can do that."_

Almost instantly his rage disappeared as the fight went out of him. What did it matter anyway? What did anything matter? Dropping to his knees, his henshin falling, he felt the restraining arms vanish, save for one, a pair of arms holding him gently.

"You're weak, Boukenger," came Yaiba's voice, sounding far away. "What happened to avenging your lover?"

Masumi shook his head tiredly. Revenge didn't matter anymore. Vaguely he heard the clashing sounds of metal on metal echo around him, but they didn't really register. He didn't notice that Natsuki had dropped her henshin until the ends of her pigtails brushed against his face, her fingers stroking his arms gently.

"Everything will work out, Masumi. You'll see."

* * *

The trek back to where he'd left Souta seemed interminable, but eventually they arrived and Masumi was surprised to find a field dressing covering his boyfriend's stomach, the body arranged more comfortably.

"Come on," Eiji snapped. "Do you want to help get him to a hospital or not?"

Masumi simply stared as Natsuki squeezed his arm tightly. "What? Hospital? Why?"

Eiji frowned, but it was Sakura of all people who came to his rescue. "Souta-kun isn't dead, Masumi. You didn't know that?"

He shook his head numbly. He hadn't known. But at least it would explain the bandage, a bandage made of… a pale cream shirt? A quick glance at Sakura didn't give him any answers, but he decided answers could wait. Right now they needed to get Souta to a hospital, and fast.

* * *

Slouching in a chair, Masumi couldn't take his eyes off the pale figure lying in the bed in front of him, ignoring the head resting against his shoulder. While the others had been shooed out by the doctors, both he and Natsuki had remained, neither willing to leave. They had gone to the first hospital they could find, the severity of Souta's injuries meaning that a return to the museum and their own medical facilities was out of the question. Fortunately, the staff at this hospital appeared competent enough which mollified Masumi somewhat. After everything that had happened, the last thing he wanted was to leave Souta in the hands of amateurs.

The internal damage had been seen to and was apparently healing well, the only concern being the amount of blood loss Souta had suffered until they'd got him here. That had been two days ago, and the doctors were confident that the Up High Adventurer would be waking soon, even if only for a few minutes. The others were keeping an eye on the situation, despite the gentle banishment from Souta's hospital room, and they were taking turns at dropping by to see how things were going. Last time had been Eiji, who'd made some smart-ass comment about making sure Souta didn't leave if he woke up suddenly, a pointed comment that made Masumi scowl before he later realised the thought behind it, the Dazzling Adventurer trying to keep him from getting too depressed in his own inimitable way. Next up would most likely be Sakura, and he had more than a sneaking suspicion that the Sub-Chief's field medicine was the only thing that had kept Souta alive, not that he had any intention of asking, or that she would answer if he did.

Fortunately for everyone concerned, Negative activity had been all but non-existent, neither Gaja or the Questers had made an appearance and Dark Shadow was otherwise occupied, no doubt trying to retool whatever had been their plan to begin with, now that they had only the Hamlyn pipe instead of all three Precious they'd tried to get. That said, the Hamlyn pipe was dangerous in its own right, as he could attest to from personal experience, the memory of being played like a puppet still vivid in his mind.

A quiet noise from the bed drew his attention and he held his breath as eyelashes fluttered against skin as Souta slowly opened his eyes. "Hi," he said quietly, a little wary despite himself, Souta's eyes darting around the room causing too much of a sense of déjà vu for him to feel entirely comfortable. Much to his relief Souta focused on him with no trouble and smiled a little.

"Hi." The voice was quiet, barely audible, but it was enough.

"Do you have any idea how long you've been asleep?" he asked rhetorically. "Two and a half days. It's about time you woke up." The faint smile grew a fraction before Souta tried to sit up, Masumi pushing him back easily. "Don't even try."

"This isn't the SGS infirmary."

Figures. Even in this state Souta was freakily aware of his surroundings. Then again, it was probably an occupational hazard, left over from Souta's spy days. "No. The museum was too far away, we had to go to the first place we could find, which was here."

Souta nodded slowly. "What happened? With Yaiba?"

"The others took care of it, but I think he's still out there. Unfortunately." He frowned slightly as Souta's eyes started to close again. "Go back to sleep. You can catch up later." He was speaking to empty air, Souta was already asleep.

* * *

Defending himself against Natsuki's disappointment that he hadn't woken her when Souta had woken up, it was then that Sakura arrived, as expected, and he was more than happy to give her the details to take back to Eiji, Akashi and Makino-sensei. Now that Souta was awake it was only a matter of time before he would be discharged from the hospital and that couldn't happen quick enough for Masumi. The sooner he got Souta back to the museum the sooner he could get some payback for Souta worrying him like this. Oh, it wouldn't be anything too strenuous, but he was determined to make it clear that his boyfriend was _never_ to worry him like this again. Ever.


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

Two days later, Souta was discharged from the hospital, much to Masumi's relief. SGS just wasn't the same with Souta not around and his bed had felt cold without the other man there. It had only been for one night - after his boyfriend had woken up, and Akashi had flat out ordered him to get some sleep - but that had been more than enough. Tonight was so much better.

Wrapping himself around the warm body lying next to him, he let his thoughts wander. While he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in Souta, convince himself that the other man was really there, he knew that he couldn't, not when simple kissing left Souta's ribs burning and his boyfriend grimacing in pain. With that being the case, anything more physical was out of the question. Still, he had plenty of time later to leave Souta so weak with pleasure he wouldn't be able to _move_, let alone get into trouble.

Arm resting on the Up High Adventurer's stomach, his fingers ghosted lightly over the newly formed scar Yaiba's sword had left there. To look at him, you didn't expect Souta to have scars, the pretty face being deceptive, but he did, and they criss-crossed his body. It had been disconcerting, the first time he'd seen them, the pale lines scattered across muscle and skin: a small one just above his kidneys, where Souta had evidently gotten lucky, a little lower and Masumi would never have met him; another on his right shoulder that was probably from a bullet; a long slash down his back, just beginning to heal. That was only naming a few, and he didn't want to think about how or where the other man had got them from. It was enough that he'd survived them.

Idly tracing random patterns across the flat stomach under his hand, he felt more content than he had in a long time and when he felt fingers combing through his hair he smiled and buried his head further into the shoulder it was leaning against, giving those fingers better access. Brushing his lips against the shoulder resulted in a quiet, contented sound in his ear and he squirmed a little closer, soaking up the warmth of Souta's body next to his. Now this was more like it.

* * *

Taking a walk around the city, a gentle form of physiotherapy if anyone asked, they'd just made it to the back entrance of the museum when Masumi was surprised to find a girl approaching them. It took a moment to recognise Kaze no Shizuka without the sword and bright blue dress, but when he did, he automatically pushed Souta behind him. Dark Shadow wasn't going to get their hands on Souta again and there was definitely no way he was _ever_ letting the ninja woman get within ten feet of him ever again.

"Relax Boukenger, that's not why I'm here. I'm not going to take him from you, I came to give you something."

Masumi frowned, not relaxing his ready stance. "And what would that be?"

"This." Holding her hands out in front of her, palms up, a narrow box appeared in a quick burst of light.

Hearing movement behind him, Masumi shifted a little as Souta moved to stand beside him, accellular in hand. The accellular had been opened to scan mode and it didn't take much to see the flashing numbers.

"It's Precious, alright," Souta said. He moved cautiously towards the Dark Shadow woman who simply bowed as she handed the box over. Opening the box revealed… "The Hamlyn Pipe?" Souta asked in surprise.

"Yes. I fought your friends this morning. Gekkou-sama and Yaiba will both assume they recovered the pipe then." She smiled wanly. "They will not be surprised that I lost it."

"Shizuka, come with us," Souta said, much to Masumi's dismay, holding out a hand. "You don't belong with Dark Shadow."

_Yes, she does!_ Masumi's mind screamed. She was just as bad as the other two.

"Yes I do," she replied. "And I couldn't leave. You know how they react to betrayal." As they both flinched slightly, she looked at the floor. "One last thing Boukenger," she said quietly, before turning her gaze on Souta. "I wanted to say… 'thank you'" the words came out with some difficulty. "You were… kind to me and you treated me as an equal, and for that I thank you. Souta-san." The honorific was added hesitantly, almost as if she were unsure about the response she'd get. Souta simply nodded in reply. "Anyway," Shizuka continued, "don't let this go to your head, Boukenger. The next time we see each other we _will_ be enemies again." Bowing to the pair, she didn't wait for a return of the gesture before she turned and walked away.

* * *

"She just gave it you?" Eiji asked, sceptically. "Why?"

Masumi shrugged. Makino-sensei had confirmed the pipe wasn't booby-trapped and it seemed as if Kaze no Shizuka had been honest about handing over the true Hamlyn Pipe. That didn't mean he wasn't still suspicious, or that he trusted her any more than he already did, which was not at all.

Souta for his part simply shrugged. "Reparation perhaps. I don't think what Yaiba did was part of her intention when she approached me before."

"She still wanted to use you," Masumi pointed out sharply, just in case Souta was missing that crucial point.

"I know that," was the infuriatingly calm reply. "But I don't think she meant for any of this to happen."

"Oh, because that makes everything okay. 'She didn't mean for it to happen'." Even now Masumi couldn't find anything charitable to think about the Dark Shadow woman. If it hadn't been for her, none of this would have happened in the first place. They'd have managed to get Souta's memory back somehow, without the other man having to come so close to dying.

"Whether she intended it to happen is irrelevant," Akashi said into the awkward silence. "What matters is that we now have the Hamlyn Pipe back and it's going back to Precious storage, along with everything else."

As the containment box materialised around the pipe, Natsuki slipped one arm round Souta, the other around Masumi. "Natsuki thinks we should celebrate. We have Souta-san back and the Precious, we should have fun!"

Akashi looked over at her and smiled. "You three go. The rest of us will take the Hamlyn Pipe to storage." Natsuki squealed happily and began to forcibly drag her captives out the door, despite loud protests from Masumi and discreet tugs from Souta. His smile turned into a grin as the petite girl somehow managed to manhandle both Masumi and Souta out the door and his sideways glance showed a similar grin on Eiji's face. Even Sakura seemed amused.

It was good to have things back to normal.


End file.
